Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-04-12
CARRYING BRIDGES.
THE NEW INVENTION NJ. DE BRAz2A
WILL TAKE TO AFRICA.

Explorers Convinced of the Necessity
of Making Themselves Comfortable.
"Roughing IT is Simply an Invitation
to Disaster-D.odern Advantages.
The improvements that have been made
within few years in travelling equipments
have greatly increased the facilities for ex-
poration, while lessening its discomforts
Savorgnan de Brazza will soon take back to
Africa the latest invention designed to facili-
tate the work of explorers II it is as perfect
as1 Is inSentors assert, it will be great boon
to African travellers.
One of the greatest impedimentS TO explora-
tory work in all tropical regions is the large
number of rivers, big and little, that must be
crossed. An expedition sometimes has to
cross three or four streams in single tlay
Often the stream is unfordable and the party
has to walk miles TO find boats or ford
Where the river can he fOrded the explorers
pass over on the shoulders of their stout car
rlers. Sometimes careless or unfortunate
porter drops box OF bundle of valuables III
the water, and it Is ruined or lost, Every
body will remember the picture in one of
otanieYs books representing the explorer as
standing on the bank of a rapid river, aiming
lIls rifle at one of his porters, whom he threat
ems to shoot ii be drops his load The poor
fellow, submerged to his neck, Is struggling
slowly along with S;tanleys precious box OF
records on his head
The French Congo is cut up bv almost in
Vulnerable streams. When De Brazza goes
btfI tbpftl in 81 Inpptb txyf, ba will taIy
with him two portable bridges They are a
new invention Just patented by great com
pauy of French marhinists. These bridges
are each thirty meters, or about 100 feet in
length which exceeds the width of most Afri-
can rivers. 1t Is asserted that soldiers, sailors
or natives viii be able to put up one of these
bridges complete in three quarters of an
hour, and that men, mules and heavily laden
wagons can safely cross upon them. They
are, of course, divisible INTO small pieces and
can be transported on the backs of porters
across savage and roadless countries.
MAKING THEMSELVES COMFORTABLE
Explorers are now more firmly convinced
than they used to be of the necessity of
making themselves as comfortable as the cir
cunIstances will permit, and so they provide
themselves with roomy tents, iron bed
steads, cork beds, rubber bath tubs, folding
chairs, portable tables and other con-
venIences of civilization. They think, in
tropical countries especially, that any at
tempt to rough it more than is actually
necessary Is simply to invite disaster The
improvements also that have been made in
their scientific Instruments and food supplies
have much facilitated their work and added
t1f E(r. as 1,
gelatine plates travellers have been able to
discard their rude and inadequate drawings
for the more satisfactory process of photog-
raphF. The comparatively new practice of
canning all sorts of provisions is a great boon
TO explorers. 1t Is found even in tropical
climates that canned soups, meats and veg
ersbes will keep for an almost unlimited
length of time In this way explorers now
take along for their private table little deli
cacIes which their predecessors could not oh
tain, and the empty tin cans i'll most parts of
Africa make very good money, as the natives
regard them as valuable presents.
III the past fifty wears there have not been
| any great improvements in the geographical
Instruments used by explorers, though in
their present form they are more handy and
portable than they used to be Modern stem
winding and water tight watches are a great
convenience, and so are portable boats made
in sections, a comparatively recent invention.
The greatest advantage, however, enjoyed
| by recent travellers is the ease with which dis
| tant parts of the world are now reached.
| Fifty years ago we We're 100 days distant
| from the cape of Good Hope and $50 days
| from Bombay. Now the explorer is not only
| carried with celebrity across the sea, but, as a
rule, be can make use of modern facilities Of
| travel almost TO the very threshold of the
region he intends to oexplore.-New FORK Sun